FINRA fines Merrill Lynch $1M in execution case

$323,000 in restitution also ordered

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced today that it has fined Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. $1.05 million for failing to provide best execution in certain customer transactions involving non-convertible preferred securities executed on one of its proprietary order management systems (ML BondMarket), and for failing to have an adequate supervisory system and written supervisory procedures in place. Merrill Lynch was also ordered to pay more than $323,000 in restitution, plus interest, to customers who did not receive best execution for their trades in non-convertible preferred securities. Additionally, FINRA has required Merrill Lynch to revise its written supervisory procedures regarding ML BondMarket best execution obligations within 30 business days.

In any customer transaction, a firm or its registered persons must use reasonable diligence to ensure that the purchase or sale price to the customer is as favorable as possible under current market conditions. FINRA found that Merrill Lynch had programmed a faulty pricing logic into ML BondMarket that only incorporated quotations published on the primary listing exchange for that non-convertible preferred security. As a result, in instances when there was a better quote on a market other than the primary listing exchange, that quote was not reflected on ML BondMarket. The firm instead executed 12,259 transactions in non-convertible preferred securities with its customers on ML BondMarket at prices that were inferior to the National Best Bid and Offer (NBBO).

Thomas Gira, FINRA Executive Vice President and Head of Market Regulation, said, "It is paramount that a broker-dealer's systems are adequately designed to ensure that customers receive fair prices in securities transactions. Merrill Lynch lacked the necessary systems and supervision to ensure that it provided customers with the best execution of their non-convertible preferred securities transactions which resulted in many customers receiving inferior prices for more than four years."

FINRA also found that Merrill Lynch's supervisory system relating to ML BondMarket was deficient in a number of respects. Merrill Lynch failed to perform any post-execution review of non-convertible preferred transactions executed on ML BondMarket to ensure compliance with its best execution obligations. The firm also failed to enhance its supervisory review of non-convertible preferred securities transactions executed on ML BondMarket despite the fact that several thousand of such transactions were identified on FINRA's best execution report cards and it had received several inquiry letters from the staff.

In concluding this settlement, Merrill Lynch neither admitted nor denied the charges, but consented to the entry of FINRA's findings.

FINRA's investigation was conducted by the Department of Market Regulation.